Mystic Calling：Stone of Glory-Chapter 38: Does this count as a date?

Before long, on the staircase of the school building, Isabella was staring at Ethan with wide eyes, practically seeing stars.

It was like she was trying to see right through him!

"Would you quit staring? You look ridiculous," Ethan said, shifting uncomfortably.

"You seem... different," Isabella said, still locking eyes with him.

"Well, do you like the me now, or the me from before?" Ethan asked with a soft chuckle.

"Definitely the you now. You used to be so boring! If you hadn’t saved me back then, I wouldn’t have even given you a second look," Isabella said proudly.

"Oh, and now you’re full of yourself? How about asking if I even liked you back then?" Ethan shot back, rolling his eyes.

"As if!" Isabella scoffed, looking at him with disdain. "If it weren’t for me, do you think anyone would even be into you?"

But as soon as she said that, she paused for a second, suddenly remembering a certain someone who clearly had no sense—Sophie. Her lips pouted in annoyance as she quickly added,

"Sophie doesn’t count!"

"She’s got way better taste than you," Ethan said with a grin, but then he suddenly fell silent.

Thinking back to everything that had happened earlier, his brows furrowed slightly. Maybe it was just his imagination, but something about Sophie’s emotions had felt... off.

"You’re still thinking about her?" Isabella asked suddenly, her tone oddly neutral.

Catching the faintest hint of jealousy in her voice, Ethan immediately shook his head and denied it without hesitation.

"Nope!"

"Really?"

"Why would I lie? You should smile more instead of getting all worked up—unless you want wrinkles on your face."

"Screw you. You’re incapable of saying anything nice, huh?"

Isabella kicked him lightly, but then her expression turned serious. "You really messed up by hitting Blake. This is gonna be a huge problem."

"Oh? He’s got some serious backing?" Ethan asked, completely unfazed.

"Serious backing? That’s an understatement! You’ve heard of the Sinclair Group, right?" Isabella said urgently.

"Sinclair Group? Sounds familiar, but I don’t know much about them," Ethan replied.

Isabella smacked her forehead in exasperation. "Are you living under a rock? The Sinclair Group is one of the four biggest financial conglomerates in the southern U.S.! Even on a national scale, they’re a major player. Their assets and capital? We’re talking at least hundreds of billions of dollars!"

"Hundreds of billions?" Ethan raised an eyebrow and chuckled. "Huh. Not bad, I guess."

And that was it.

No panic. No reaction. Nothing.

It was like someone had just told him a new corner store had opened up down the street—one of those tiny, hole-in-the-wall places.

Not a single ripple in his emotions. Not even a flicker of concern.

What could he do?

Sure, a hundred-billion-dollar empire sounded impressive, but when you really broke it down... it wasn’t that big of a deal.

Why?

Because in the game, an 8-Tier Pegasus Knight trades for around 350,000 gold coins.

And in real-world terms, a single gold coin sells for roughly $600 to $800. freewebnoveℓ.com

So even if we lowball the estimate, an 8-Tier Silver Pegasus Knight would be worth close to 200 million dollars in real money!

In other words, this so-called Sinclair Group?

At best, their entire fortune could buy a few hundred 8-Tier Silver Pegasus Knights.

And that’s supposed to be impressive?

Not really.

Ethan didn’t take it seriously at all.

After all, this world’s Earth was nothing like the one from his past life.

As the planet kept expanding, the ceiling for power and influence kept rising too. Back in his old world, a company worth hundreds of billions would’ve been an absolute giant. But here? It wasn’t that big of a deal.

The value of money had dropped significantly.

What mattered now wasn’t real-world wealth—it was in-game resources.

It was in-game military power.

It was in-game dominance.

And in that regard? To put it bluntly, Ethan had already crushed every single person and faction on Earth.

With that kind of power, what was there to be afraid of?

Absolutely nothing.

"What’s with that look? I’m talking about the Sinclair Group! Do you even realize who’s backing them? Holy Concord Guild!" Isabella, frustrated by Ethan’s indifference, pinched his waist and spoke seriously.

"Oww..." Ethan yelped, pretending to be in pain. Then, with a hint of surprise, he said, "Holy Concord Guild? The second-ranked guild in the top ten?"

"Now you’re scared, huh?"

Isabella huffed, then quickly continued, "Holy Concord Guild has multiple corporate sponsors funding them, and Sinclair Group is one of them! Not only that, but Sinclair Group poured a ton of money into building up a mid-tier guild called Inferno Dragons."

"Inferno Dragons is expanding in the southeastern region of the Unicorn Duchy. They’ve already taken control of two Viscount-level cities and are making moves on a third! They’ve been gaining a lot of momentum in recent years."

"On top of that, their guild leader, Inferno Tyrant, is no joke. Word is, he’s already hit level 35. He even rallied the entire Inferno Dragons guild to complete a B-rank quest and got his hands on three 9-Tier units—Minotaur Kings!"

Isabella rattled off all this information in one breath before finally stopping, looking at Ethan with concern.

"Just... be careful, okay? I’m worried Blake might use Inferno Dragons to get back at you. Sure, even Inferno Tyrant wouldn’t dare cause trouble inside Harvard University, but once you step outside... it’s a different story."

"Haha, come on! I’m not gonna let you be a lonely single so soon—that’d be tragic!" Ethan burst out laughing.

"Oh, stop it..." Isabella’s face turned bright red as she reached out to smack Ethan. "What nonsense are you talking about?"

Ethan quickly grabbed both of her hands, his curiosity piqued. "Where did you even hear all this?"

"Don’t tell me you seriously don’t know..." Isabella widened her eyes at him before puffing up her cheeks in frustration. "No one told you that my dad is the chairman of Carter Group?"

"Carter Group?" Ethan froze for a second, looking a little lost.

Seeing his reaction, Isabella let out an exasperated sigh. "Carter Group is one of the four major financial groups in the southern U.S., just like Sinclair Group. The difference is that Sinclair Group is backed by the Holy Concord Guild, while Carter Group is supported by the Scarlet Legion."

She paused for a moment, then sighed softly. "Even though my family has been trying to build up a gaming guild, it hasn’t been going well. It’s taken us years just to barely squeeze into the mid-tier guild category, but we’re still way weaker than Inferno Dragons Guild. And on top of that, our guild’s territory in the game is right next to theirs—practically side by side."

There was something else she didn’t say out loud.

Inferno Dragons Guild had its sights set on a third Viscount Lord City—her family’s guild’s only Viscount Lord City territory in the game.

Owning a Viscount Lord City was the defining mark of a mid-tier guild.

Losing it would mean losing their mid-tier status—and all the prestige that came with it.

If Inferno Dragons Guild really took their only Viscount Lord City, it would be a devastating blow to her family’s guild, both in reputation and future prospects.

It would mean that all the years of effort, all the investments they had poured in, would be for nothing.

A complete disaster. A total loss.

Sure, they could start over. But in a world where the "cake" had already been divided up, making a comeback would be nearly impossible.

More importantly, securing and developing a new Viscount Lord City-level territory required an astronomical amount of resources—an absolute money pit.

And after suffering such a huge setback, could Carter Group even afford to make that kind of investment again?

Honestly... it would be really difficult.

Sensing the worry and frustration in Isabella’s heart, Ethan tightened his grip on her hands and said softly, "Trust me, it’ll be okay."

"...Mm." Isabella nodded, then lightly smacked Ethan. "You should worry about yourself first."

Ethan chuckled, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. "So, where do you wanna go?"

"Wait... does this count as a date?" Isabella looked at him seriously.

Ethan was silent for a moment before finally nodding. "Yeah, it does."

"You said it! I didn’t force you!" Isabella’s face lit up with a huge smile. She grabbed Ethan’s hand and practically skipped toward the exit of Harvard University. "I wanna go to the amusement park! And go shopping! And then watch a movie tonight—how about it?"

Just as Isabella was pulling Ethan away from Harvard University—

In the distance, at the top floor window of the academic building, Blake clutched his stomach, his face twisted in rage. His whole body trembled with fury, his eyes practically spitting fire.

"That bitch! Isabella, you damn bitch! Just wait—once Sinclair Group’s Inferno Dragons Guild takes over Icelight City, you’ll be crawling into my bed, begging me!" he roared, his voice filled with hysteria.

Beside him, Sophie gazed at the two figures disappearing into the horizon, her expression complicated. Her eyelashes quivered slightly.

"...Sigh." After a moment, she let out a soft sigh, murmuring to herself with a hint of melancholy. "I just hope this mission ends soon... I’m sorry, I never meant for this to happen... Sigh..."

...

At 9 PM, Isabella reluctantly parted ways with Ethan and got into her car to head home.

Watching her leave, Ethan replayed everything that had happened today in his mind and couldn’t help but marvel, "What a crazy day!"

Out of nowhere, he suddenly had a girlfriend. And not just any girlfriend—an absolute knockout with a killer body. How could that not be crazy?

Shaking his head with a grin, Ethan quickly made his way home and logged into the game.

In the world of Glory Lords X, on the outskirts of Sylvanwood in the Unicorn Duchy, in a secluded corner where no one was around, Ethan summoned Cicero, who was still fast asleep.

"Chirp chirp... chirp chirp..."

A drowsy Cicero let out a few sleepy grumbles.

"Alright, wake up. We’re heading back. You can sleep all you want once we’re there," Ethan said hurriedly.

"Chirp chirp..."

Cicero groggily stirred, emerging from the system space. In an instant, he transformed into his massive flying form—a towering Green Dragon!

"ROAR! ROAR! ROAR!"

After a few loud roars, Cicero finally shook off his sleepiness. Then, with affectionate eyes, he nudged Ethan, signaling him to climb on.

Ethan didn’t waste any time. He swiftly mounted Cicero’s back.

WHOOSH!

A powerful gust of wind erupted from the ground as Cicero took off like a bolt of green lightning, soaring into the sky and speeding toward the depths of Sylvanwood.

...

Two days passed in the blink of an eye.

"Honorable Master, esteemed Lord Cicero, welcome back!"

The moment Cicero landed at Emerald Castle, Elynn immediately stepped forward, bowing respectfully in greeting.

"Yeah, we’re back. Nothing major happened while we were gone, right? Where’s Seraphina?" Ethan asked as he climbed down from Cicero’s back.

"The Suffocating Swamp Forest has been quiet for now. As for Lady Seraphina, she’s currently in Verdant Ravine, clearing out wild monsters and attacking the gold mines!" Elynn reported promptly.

"Gold mines?" Ethan raised an eyebrow, nodding in approval. "Makes sense. If we can take control of the gold mines in Verdant Ravine, that would solve Emerald Castle’s financial crisis in no time! How’s the progress?"

Verdant Ravine had a total of eight small gold mines, five medium-sized ones, and one massive gold mine.

If they could seize them all, that would mean a steady income of 140,000 gold coins every seven days.

That boiled down to 20,000 gold per day—a staggering 7.3 million gold per year!

That was huge!